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Functionally, the purpose of QTFairUse is to convert protected audio files (.m4p extension) purchased from Apple's iTunes Store into M4a files, without DRM. To accomplish this task it uses a rather uncommon approach: instead of removing the already present DRM, it waits for iTunes to play back the protected file and intercepts the unencrypted AAC data stream as it is sent to the sound card. During this process, it copies unencrypted data, frame-by-frame, into RAM and then inserts it into a new MP4 container that is free of any DRM.

The current release (as of December 13, 2007) of QTFairUse6, version 6-2.5, supports iTunes 6.0.2 through 7.0.2. An updated config file compatible with iTunes 7.1.2 was released on May 14, 2007. An iTunes 7.3.1 compatible configuration file was released on June 12, the same day Apple released the new iTunes update. An iTunes 7.4.2.4 compatible configuration file was released on September 18, 2007.[1] This config file is also compatible with iTunes 7.5.0.20. The config file needs to be updated with each new iTunes release; so far the author has released updates the same day as the new iTunes release. As of January 15, 2008, the author has not updated QTFairUse for the latest version of iTunes, and the current revision is not compatible with that version.